A Whore's Life
by btRkun
Summary: InuKag. After a tragic accident Kagome is left in debt and homeless and turns to prostitution. Three years later she meets a client who isn’t interested in using her for sex. When freak accidents begin occurring and people die she turns to him for help.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: InuYasha and co. belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The story belongs to me.

**Warning**: This story is rated **M** for strong language, sexuality, and violence. You have been duly warned.

**Summary**: After a tragic accident Kagome is left penniless and homeless. She turns to prostitution as her only escape from destitution. A few years later she meets an interesting surprise client who isn't interested in sex. Soon, freak accidents involving fire begin occurring and Kagome is convinced someone is out to get her. Her only hope lies with the strange client who took her heart by treating her as someone other than a common whore.

**A Whore's Life**

_Prologue_

The flames licked the wood like an aroused lover, the choking black smoke rising in the sky and blocking out the moon's light. Firemen raced onto the scene with thick hoses and turnout gear, shouting orders each and every direction.

There was chaos all around her. Police officers behind her put up yellow tape and forced the crowd back with harsh words and hands. The spectators watched the house now entirely engulfed in flames like it was some sport, all of them eager to see if the honored shrine would succumb to the blazing hot flames.

She stood there, fixated… horrified by what she saw and entranced by the sheer power and heat of the fire. She could feel the skin on her face burning from a hundred feet away and the thick black smoke made her cough.

An explosion shook the ground. The second story of the building collapsed and Kagome screamed while running toward the building in a vain attempt to save the only life she had ever known. Strong arms grabbed her from behind and forcefully dragged her away from the scene and to an ambulance nearby.

Without realizing it she fought tooth and nail with the paramedic, scrambling to get back to her home and her family that was still trapped inside. If she could only get inside she could save them, but the man holding her back wouldn't let her.

The paramedic gained the assistance of two police officers to detain her and bring her to the ambulance. He applied a mask over her face and supplied it with oxygen, while asking her questions, which she ignored.

There were more sirens in the distance and yet more chaos. She took no notice of these things and continued to stare helplessly into the distance where her home, her family, her life was losing the long-fought battle.

There was another explosion and the entire house collapsed, sparks spraying everywhere. Kagome screamed, ripped off the mask and fled towards the destroyed home. Within moments she was tackled from behind and not-so-gently forced to the hard ground cracking her skull on the pavement and immediately blacking out.

--------------------------------------------------------

The methodic beeping woke her some time later. She felt sluggish, her throat raw, her head pounding, and her body feeling like a sack of rocks. When she forced her eyes to open and take in her surroundings she was surprised to find herself in a hospital bed. The beeping noise was the monitor to her right keeping tabs on her pulse and blood pressure. Wires were connected to her chest and an IV was attached to her arm supplying her with fluids.

Kagome tried turning her head but found that her neck ached too much and she groaned in the process. With her eyes she located the button for the nurse and after some shaky fumbling managed to press it.

Within moments a slightly heavy, severe looking woman entered the room with a police officer in tow. The two of them regarded her with pity and went about their separate duties: the nurse took her vital signs while the police officer brought over a chair to begin asking questions.

Suddenly Kagome found herself extremely wary. Where was her family? Were they all right? Had they been in the house when it collapsed, or had they managed to escape out the back door?

"Higurashi Kagome?"

"Y-yes." Her voice, damaged by the smoke, came out hoarse and quiet. It hurt to speak and she instinctively swallowed to ease the pain.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, child."

"Where's my family? Are they okay? When can I go see them?" She asked, too afraid to hear the bad news.

"I'm sorry, Kagome, but your family is dead. They were in the house when it collapsed. On the bright side, they suffocated from the smoke and suffered relatively little."

"How does that make me feel _any_ better? My family is still DEAD, you insensitive prick!" She cried out and attempted to sit up. The nurse forced her back into bed and made her drink a thick, foul tasting liquid.

"I am sorry for your loss, Kagome."

She let out a disbelieving, hysterical bark of laughter. "No you're not! This is just daily routine for you! This is Tokyo, not the suburbs, people die all the time! You don't give a shit about me _or_ my loss!" She threw her hands up in the air and let out another peal of hysterical laughter.

"Listen to me, Kagome. I need to know if any of your family members smoked."

"No, none of them. Why?"

"The fire was started by a smoldering cigarette at the base of the front wooden steps."

"My family doesn't smoke, _sir_." Kagome emphasized the respectful "sir" and laced her words with mockery.

"Is there someone that is holding a grudge against you? Anyone at all? Someone you owe money to? Did your family get into an argument with anyone recently?"

"No, no one. My family was highly respected; we lived in a shrine for crying out loud!"

"I've looked through some past records and noticed that your parents filed a restraining order against a young man two years ago. Could he possibly have a connection to the fire?"

"What? Him? No, he wouldn't do anything like that. He moved to the U.S. after my parents filed the restraining order. We haven't heard from him since. Listen, are we done here? That medicine made me tired."

"For the moment. Get some rest, stay with a relative. I'll be in touch." The officer stood to leave and the nurse followed. They left the room without a backward glance and let the door close with a soft click, leaving Kagome feeling more alone than ever before.

"What family? My parents, grandfather, and brother were all I ever had." She whispered to no one.

--------------------------------------------------------

Three weeks had passed since the fire. The funeral was short and though many people showed up it was out of respect for the priest who had run the shrine, her grandfather. The fire was deemed an accident, yet no one was able to figure out how a cigarette had caused so much destruction.

The day Kagome left the hospital she was confronted by a lawyer and a financial consultant, both with more bad news. Her parents had no living will, and since the property belonged to the government Kagome had been left homeless. The financial consultant yielded even worse news. Her family, though seemingly had been well off, had truly been in severe debt, which left her in debt. The cheap funeral was made possible by the many donations from the people who visited the shrine on a regular basis.

So there she was, three weeks later, walking down a deserted street in the middle of Tokyo. No family. No money. No connections. No food. No shelter. Worse yet, it was her nineteenth birthday that day and she was all alone, cold, and hungry.

Kagome still hadn't cried for them. She wouldn't allow the tears to come. In order to survive she had to be strong and crying was a sign of weakness she could not afford.

The wind blew from behind and Kagome shivered. She wrapped her arms around herself and continued to trudge down the street, trying to think of _any_ way to save herself from her current predicament.

There were footsteps to her right and immediately she went on guard. She was an easy target for the thugs on the street and because of her stubborn nature she refused to be caught unawares.

The person approached her, garbed in the tackiest looking attire she had ever seen. The young woman was no older than herself. Her face was plain and her face was brightly colored with poorly done make-up, but her clothes… her clothes spoke volumes and plainly said "I'm a hooker".

"Hey there, what's a pretty girl like you doing out so late?" The stranger asked. Kagome let the girl approach but took a step back when she became too close.

"I'm lost." Kagome lied.

"Somehow I don't believe that. I'm Yuka."

"Kagome…"

"It's nice to meet you, Kagome. I hope you don't mind me saying so, but you've got the hopeless look about you that tells me you're out on the streets and you have no where to go."

"How… how did you know?"

"I was you about a year ago. I know that look. I can offer you a job, though I warn you it isn't glamorous. A pretty girl like you will make a bundle."

"Sorry, but no. I won't reduce myself to prostitution." Kagome replied. And yet, in the pit of her stomach, she was afraid that was the only option for her.

"Listen, hun, I know it ain't glamorous, and you get a bunch of perverted sleezebags breathing in your face, but what other choice do you got? I wandered around for months, stealing food; sleeping in alleys… it's rough. There are no jobs out there, especially not for a girl our age. Take it from someone who **knows**. I was desperate back then, and you look just as I felt. So what do you say? Stick around me for a while and it'll be no big deal. I'll teach you the ropes and I'll even get a decent John for your first time."

Kagome pondered her words and knew them to be true. For the last three weeks she had been searching for a job and was left with nothing. The managers at the local fast food chains wouldn't even consider her. She took in her surroundings and looked at the dark sky laced with thick clouds. It looked like rain.

"I can quit, right? At any point in time?" The girl named Yuka smiled and nodded. "Okay." Kagome felt like she was condemning herself. But what other choice did she have?

--------------------------------------------------------

AN: I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. This story will be a long one, I can already tell. Inuyasha and the gang will show up around chapter 2 or so.


	2. Super Studs and Users

AN: Here's the first chapter of the story. The setting is 3 years after the prologue, so Kagome is now 21 years old. The beginning may be a bit long, but I promise you it's MUCH better by the end of the chapter. Chapter 2 has been written already and will be up in a couple days. Chapter 2 makes _me_ laugh and I wrote it! So I know you'll enjoy it. .

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. That honor goes to Rumiko Takahashi. I do, however, own a pair of socks, this story, and the humming bird outside my window preying on a hibiscus plant.

**Warning**: This story is rated M for a reason. Language and sexuality to follow. Ye be warned.

**A Whore's Life**

_Chapter 1: Super Studs and Users_

The room was quiet, dank, dark, and smelled faintly of unwashed sweaty sheets. She wrinkled her nose at the stink, fully knowing who had used the room last, but wasn't about to complain and therefore sat motionless in the moth eaten, stained chair in the darkest corner of the small room.

After two years of working the public Kagome had been granted the right to privacy when she worked and had acquired a few regular lonely clients. But you had to be well off to get Higurashi Kagome, she was not bought cheaply, and for that she was eternally grateful. Her customers were fewer and she made just a tad more money.

Now that it was a year later she found herself in a time loop, caught in an endless cycle, incapable of escape. During the day she would sleep, rising only to pay off the debt her dead family left behind, shower, and eat. At night she would ready herself, physically and mentally, and then wait in one of the smelly, dirty, used rooms until she got a customer. She never usually had to wait long.

She heard a pair of footsteps in the hallway and her stomach immediately sank. Her wait was over, her long night had begun. When the doorknob turn and dim light filtered into the room Kagome put on her practiced sultry smile and waited for the pervert to enter.

She nearly flat out laughed when she saw a short, fat, balding, banker looking of a man enter the room, nervously pushing his thick bifocals up the bridge of his nose.

"Evening, sugar" She purred and uncrossed her legs. She stood, walked to her John and quietly shut the door behind him feeling the ever present eyes looking her up and down hungrily, taking in her form and mentally undressing her.

"I have but one rule, sugar. I _never_ kiss on the mouth. That being said, what's your fantasy? What turns you on and makes you hot?" She flashed him another sizzling smile and traced a finger across his almost nonexistent collarbone, while walking around him in a slow, lazy circle, her heels clicking on the linoleum flooring.

"What do you do?" His voice was high and slightly squeaky, but he seemed harmless. But they never were harmless, were they? Kagome mentally frowned.

"I avoid most of the kinky stuff, but for the right price I'm yours to do whatever… whatever you desire." Kagome had his character down since he walked through the door.

A man like him was self-conscious and underappreciated and under loved. He was lonely, convinced he could never find a girl who would look past his squat, chubby, nerdy exterior and find the true "super stud" underneath. That's what Kagome termed these men, the "super studs". They wanted to be treated as if they were sex gods, amazing on the eyes and amazing in bed. In other words, they needed an ego boost.

Kagome frowned and remembered her second customer for the evening, one of the regulars. He came back every other Tuesday at ten. He was a "user". Their style was to get in, get on, get out. They were usually middle class men, all looking for a good time to just meet their needs. She called them the "users" because afterward she was left feeling completely used.

Kagome halted her train of thought and concentrated on the matter at hand, and more importantly the "super stud".

"I bet a man like you knows how to treat a woman." She started in low, sultry tones.

"I don't kn-know about that." He began gibbering. "I'm not too good with women. I don't have much experience."

Bingo. Kagome smiled knowing she was right in thinking he was a "super stud" customer. She leaned down and planted a searing kiss along his jaw making him gasp. "I'm not so sure I believe that, sugar." She mumbled into his thick neck. "I think you're the type of man that could make even a girl like me blush. I bet you're well equipped…." She trailed off.

Kagome's torturous kissing to his neck, her trademark, finally calmed the man, his nervousness vanishing in an instant. He grabbed her by the waist, pushed himself against her, and planted a scratchy kiss on her shoulder and a bruising hand on her breast. Kagome winced physically but let out a throaty theatrical moan. She felt his erection against her thigh and a wave of nausea passed over her. The nausea wouldn't leave until morning came. It never left before then. She had to suppress a gag when he began grinding himself against her and instead grabbed his shirt to lift it over his head. Underneath he wore a girdle to contain his mass.

"Sorry." He apologized and proceeded to remove the item.

"Don't worry about it, sugar. I think it's sexy. Here, let me do it for you…" And thus the night began.

A while later, once the pudgy little man was finally spent (he had a lot of pent up sexual frustration) he said his thank you and the typical "that was the best I've ever had" speech, while handing her a wad of cash. He changed and left, a large grin plastered on his face, leaving Kagome alone, naked on the bed.

Once the door shut Kagome jumped out of the bed, opened the window and vomited, unable to quell the nausea. It didn't happen often, but it happened whenever she was confronted with a sadist customer, which thankfully was only about ten percent of the time. "You'd never guess he'd be a sadist by looking at him." She said out loud.

She took the cash and hid it in the moth eaten armchair in the corner and popped in a couple Altoids she hid there as well to mask the sour smell left over from vomiting. She didn't bother to change and instead decided to lay on the bed once more, waiting for her regular, the "user".

The wait wasn't long and the door soon opened. A tall man, a foreign man, with blonde curly locks and dark eyes entered the room and eyed her hungrily. Kagome flashed him her usual smile and noticed he was already hard. He shut the door and undressed himself, then took her in one easy motion. He left just as quickly, tossing an even larger wad of money than the last John on the armchair as he passed.

He gave her the usual "I'll see you in two weeks" and she was left alone once more. The nausea returned, but this time she did not vomit. Instead, she stared at the ceiling praying to whatever God existed, if He existed, that this nightmare would soon end. It had been three years since the fire, and as each New Years came she made a promise to remove herself from the miserable life she led and find a man that wanted her for her, not her body. She wanted someone to treat her as a person and not just a whore, or the common Tokyo scum. But each year passed without any change.

Kagome got out of the bed and dressed quickly. She straightened the grimy sheets and sat once more in the armchair waiting for her next John.

--------------------------------------------------------

The night ended once the first rays of light began filtering in through the soiled window. A few cockroaches scuttled through a hole in the wall as Kagome robed herself and exited the room exhausted and sore. Other girls privileged enough to be granted rooms exited their own rooms and walked down the hallways to their benefactor's office exchanging gossip and horror stories from the evening.

They called him The Benefactor, but really he was their pimp. They gave him the money they made during the course of the evening and he would give back just a fraction. They called him The Benefactor because he readily supplied a good majority of the girls' drugs, needles, and alcohol… whatever made them happy and content to stay. Kagome never tried any of the drugs and never drank.

She would much rather live each day in misery than to live each day masking her true feelings and hatred for the place. She wasn't going to be there much longer anyway, she kept telling herself. Her family debt was nearly paid off and as soon as she saved some money she would be out of there. All she needed was a jump-start, or an extremely wealthy customer.

In front of her was a line leading to The Benefactor's office. All around her was the disgusting smell of sex, perfume, sweat, and god knew what else. There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned around.

It was Yuka. "Hey there, Kags. Busy night?"

Kagome shrugged as if it were no big deal. "A slow one, actually. I guess not too many people were willing to pay The Benefactor's price. Only five Johns. The first was a sadist and a "super stud". Kagome watched as Yuka rolled her eyes.

"I bet you still made way more money than me, you always do! You're so pretty it's no wonder Johns will pay almost any price to be with you."

The girl in front of Kagome was called into the office and the line moved forward. Two more of her associates, Eri and Ayumi, appeared next to them and they began to chat and laugh, exchanging stories.

Within minutes Kagome was called into the office where The Benefactor sat in a plush chair smoking a cigar. Kagome made a face as she entered the room. Cigar smoke was one of her least favorite smells.

"Let's see what the infamous Higurashi Kagome made this evening, shall we?" He flashed a toothy grin and looked her over, his eyes resting on her chest. It happened every time she walked into the office, and each time it made her feel like a piece of meat dangling in front of a starving man.

Kagome took out the wad of bills from within a pocket in her robe and placed it on the wooden desk. The Benefactor flipped through the bills and jotted down some numbers in the book he used to keep track of his finances. After punching some numbers into a calculator he counted back a couple bills and handed them to her. She pocketed them

The Benefactor made a dismissive wave, not looking up from his book, but Kagome stood rooted to the spot. Tonight she had the courage to ask. Tonight she would tell him she was leaving soon.

"Excuse me, sir, may I speak?" If she spoke out of turn or was even the slightest bit rude her chances would be dashed to ribbons. He didn't acknowledge her and instead continued to write in his book. Kagome's temper flared. The biggest scum on the face of the Earth, who sold young girls' bodies for a living, was treating her like trash. How dare he?

"I wanted to let you know that I'll be leaving soon."

The Benefactor stopped writing immediately and looked her in the eyes, his own narrowing maliciously. "What did you say?"

"I said I'll be leaving soon. My family debt is nearly paid off. I won't work here for much longer." She repeated cautiously, aware of the dangerous gleam in his eye.

"No you won't." He stated plainly.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You owe yourself to me. You are indebted to _me_, whore. You're not leaving."

"Excuse me!" Kagome balled her hands into fists as her anger bubbled dangerously close to the surface. "_How_ am I indebted to you? How much do I owe you and why?" She ground out between her teeth.

Her anger seemed to cause The Benefactor endless amusement and he grinned. "That's right. _You_, oh prized whore of mine, owe me. I took you in, clothed you, gave you an apartment, and took every medical precaution on you to prevent disease and pregnancy. After two years I gave you privacy privileges so you wouldn't have to work the streets and go home with sick masochists and sadists. I've invested more money in you than most my other whores combined. You owe me a great deal of money."

"You evil, despicable, vile, revolting **prick**!" Kagome shouted. "I don't owe you jack shit! We had an agreement that I could leave whenever the hell I wanted! You told me that on the first night!"

"Do you have that in writing?" He grinned. "Because I don't recall ever saying such a thing."

"You asshole! You know you said that to me! I made sure we understood each other from the moment I met you! How dare you do this? You will let me leave or else!"

"Or else…what, exactly, whore? You'll call the police? You'll be thrown in the slammer with the rest of them."

"I'll take you down with me if necessary. I know too much about you. It'll be all too easy to take you down." Kagome threatened.

"And there, whore, lies the problem. Don't you fucking see? You **know** too much for me to just let you go just like that!" He snapped his fingers for emphasis. "You either pay me off real good, or you stay. Those are the only two conditions. Now leave me, whore. I've got work to do. Go back to your studio flat and take a fucking shower, you reek."

Kagome let out a strangled yell and released her anger on his desk by smashing a fist onto the surface. Sharp stabbing pain shot up and down her arm but she refused to let him see. She would not allow any weaknesses to show. So she left.

She huffed past Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi and shouted out "I'm going on ahead. I'll see you three back at the apartment," and continued down the hall to the room where her day clothes were. She quickly changed into her too large, baggy clothing and stuffed her soiled night clothes in a duffle bag before stomping down the hall once more an into the frosty night air.

Then, and only then, did she let the pain in her arm get to her. The duffle bag was dropped to the pavement with a soft thud as she clenched her already bruising hand. It shook terribly and the pain was horrible, but she did not cry. She winced greatly whenever it was jostled about or when she attempted to touch it, so she let it hang at her side and grabbed the duffle bag with the opposite hand before marching down the streets of Tokyo to the one room studio flat she shared with Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi.

Morning rush hour traffic was in full swing by the time Kagome reached the broken down building her apartment was in. She entered the building and fumbled around for a moment in order to find her key with her good hand and without dropping the dufflebag.

The lighting in the hallway was abysmal, flickering on and off. Bugs that had gotten trapped in the fixture lay dead, blocking the remaining light from illuminating the narrow hallway. Somewhere, most likely from the staircase to her right, a cat meowed and padded away unseen and almost unheard. A continuously tinkling bell from the cat's collar was the only indication it was ever there.

Sighing in relief – for these hallways always gave her the creeps – Kagome found her apartment key and shoved it through the lock and turned. The door opened with a squeak and she entered the room closing the door hastily behind her. She locked it and dropped the duffle bag on the floor and peeled her clothing off right then and there and then dropped the filthy clothing on the duffle bag.

Kagome walked the five steps to the small bathroom and turned on the shower, stepping in immediately, and shivered as the cold water flowed down her body as if cleansing her of her immoral deeds and memories. There was no hot water in the apartment, but Kagome was far too used to the cold to care.

She scrubbed her body meticulously, paying particular attention to certain areas. When she was convinced she was clean she turned off the shower, wrung out her hair, and exited the bathroom leaving her skin to air dry. They couldn't afford towels.

Making her way over to the bedroom/living area/kitchen Kagome combed her hair and scoured through the small, almost bare refrigerator for anything edible. Finding a yogurt and deciding it was suffice for breakfast and lunch she ate slowly, not caring that her still sopping wet hair was trickling small rivers of cold water down the curve of her back.

When her meal was gone she dressed herself in clean clothes and grabbed the grimy ones, a roll of coins, and the only book she owned. She left the apartment and walked down the streets of Tokyo once more to the Laundromat to do her laundry. She ignored the appreciative glances and flat-out stares from the men she passed and entered the building. She set about doing her laundry at once and sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs reading her cheap, cheesy romance novel for what seemed like the twentieth time. The book was so used and read the binding had fallen apart and pages were missing.

Kagome immediately lost herself in her novel; the fantasy of it warmed her bruised heart and took her to a place far away from the whorehouse.

--------------------------------------------------------

_Stupid bitch is reading the same fucking book again. Doesn't she ever get fucking tired of it? Every day it's the same stupid routine. Go be a whore and get paid for having sex when you denied me the pleasure. Then you come home to your roach infested apartment, shower in that rusty shower of yours, and let yourself air dry like some goddess. Then you come here, to the freaking Laundromat to get the stink out of your clothes. And you read the same freaking book, every day while you wait._

_But soon, love, soon you won't be reading that book anymore. Soon I'll have that revenge I promised you._

_I'll do it slowly at first. I've waited far too long to get it over with quickly._

_I'll play with your mind a bit… make you fucking paranoid and jumpy like a skittish cat. Then I'll take her down first. Maybe if you're lucky I'll let you watch!_

_Oh look, there's that man again. Ya know, the sixty year old pervert who comes to the Laundromat to stare at your ass every day. See? You're pulling your clothes out of the dryer and he's staring. I like it when you bend over too, love. It makes me hard._

_Ooh! Booyah! The sixty year old pervert got caught by the ugly little fat wife! Ouch, that slap looked it like it hurt. Too bad it wasn't you being slapped, love. I would have enjoyed seeing that. Oh look, now the wife is dragging dear old hubby out by his ear!_

_So that leaves just you in there, love. Should I come in and say hi?_

_No, not yet. It's far too soon. There's still planning to be done, victims to choose, lives to destroy._

_But maybe I should leave you a calling card at your house? Yeah, make you freaking paranoid and jumpy like a skittish cat, I will. Maybe I'll pull a move like out of the movie The Godfather and leave a dead horse head in your bed. But where would I get a horse from?_

_Okay, so maybe I'll leave you a taunting note instead… like pin up a poster of some porno star with the word "WHORE" written all over it on your front door?_

_Stupid bitch._ _You have no idea I'm here, standing right outside the crusty window of the Laundromat, smoking this cigar, thinking of you while you work. Blissfully stupid…blissfully beautiful bitch._

_Let's just see how you like the present I'm going to leave you. Heh. But don't worry. It'll be the first of many gifts I'm about to give you._

--------------------------------------------------------

There was an odd prickling sensation that made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. There was only one other time Kagome could recall feeling like this and it was the day her life crashed down all around her… the day of the fire.

She straightened herself and looked over her shoulder, expecting to see some sinister being cackling manically from a dark alley across the street from the Laundromat or even just some old codger staring at her creepily from behind one of the dirty magazines the place supplied. But she was alone in the Laundromat, and there was no alley across the street.

The prickling sensation, like she was being watched, dimmed and eventually went away, but Kagome remained on her guard. The prickling sensation had left a foreboding after feeling, almost like she wasn't out of the woods just yet.

Quickly, Kagome finished folding the last of her clothes and grabbed her tattered novel in order to leave. She walked briskly back to her apartment, that foreboding feeling never leaving.

She reached her apartment building by eleven and climbed the stairs to her third story apartment. As she climbed the last flight of stairs a tangy smell reached her nose and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. It wasn't uncommon to smell sulphur in the building seeing as how the water wasn't the best, but the tangy scent was a new one.

Kagome rounded the corner of the hallway and stopped in her tracks, not entirely sure what the mass at the base of her door was. But whatever it was, it was the source of the tangy stench. A liquid was spread around it, soaking into the already stained carpeting.

She took a few steps forward and then jumped back, horrified… too horrified to let out even a screech of surprise.

There were a few voices behind her and she turned around to face her three roommates. Their chatting died instantly upon seeing Kagome's face.

"Kagome! What's wrong? You're as pale as death! You look like you've seen a ghost!" Ayumi raced down the hall and saw the mass on the floor. She made an odd choking noise and gripped Kagome hard by the shoulders lending comfort and taking comfort.

"What in the devil's name is that?" Yuka pointed. Eri took a few steps closer and inspected the tangy lump.

Eri was noticeably the bravest of the four, and the oldest at twenty-three. She serviced three years as an emergency medical technician but her license was taken away and her finances torn asunder when a greedy person filed a lawsuit against her, paid the right lawyer the right amount of money, and won a hefty sum.

"I think… that's Mr. Hokkaido's cat from the upstairs apartment. What happened to it? I can barely recognize it! It's like another animal tore it apart and the poor thing crawled back here and died!" Eri announced.

"Ugh! That's absolutely disgusting! That poor creature!" Ayumi cried out, hugging Kagome. Ayumi was the vegetarian in the group and couldn't stand seeing innocent animals hurt.

"Should we call someone, like the police or animal control? What about all this blood?" Yuka inquired.

"I think we should call the police," Kagome whispered. "I have _never_ seen an animal look like that, even when it has been attacked by another animal. I can even imagine a rabid dog doing something so grotesque."

"I agree." Eri stated.

They called the police from a neighbor's phone and waited for them to arrive. The police called for animal control to clean up the remains and the cat's death was deemed as the result of another animal. There were claw marks and a canine was found in the bloodied mess.

But Kagome couldn't help but wonder about that prickling sensation and foreboding feeling. Surely it couldn't have been a coincidence, could it?

She shrugged it off and crawled under a blanket on the lumpy couch to sleep until she had to work that evening.

-------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------

AN: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I think this story is going to be a really fun one to write. The next chapter will be up soon and I'll introduce Inuyasha and Miroku, though they won't meet Kagome. Their stories will provide much amusement… well, Miroku's will anyway. Until then.


	3. Of Cops and Curses

AN: I'm back with chapter 2! I have the next 4 chapters planned out ahead of time so hopefully updates won't be too long of a wait. Although, I must sincerely apologize if they are. School and work keeps me busy. Enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha. That honor goes to Rumiko Takahashi

**Warning: Inuyasha has a potty mouth in this story. :)**

**A Whore's Life**

_Chapter 2: Of Cops and Curses_

Okay, so he knew it wasn't the most intelligent thing he was about to do. He was _very_ well aware of the problems and consequences. Every little voice inside his head, including his conscience, was screaming at him not to do it. But his hand! Oh god, his hand! His hand was literally _twitching_ in anticipation! He could barely control it on the best of days!

"No! I. Must. Not. Succumb. To. Temptation!" But his legs seemed to have a mind of their own, no matter how much he struggled to gain their cooperation and just walk the other way. "Oh, look! A French Bistro! I should go eat there!" He tried to distract his own mind, until he realized that proved much more difficult than originally thought.

He took another pained step forward and tried to forcibly calm the twitching in his right hand by gripping it with his left hand. "I can't! I shouldn't! But I want to! NO! BAD!" He argued with himself aloud. An elderly woman nearly walked past him and gave him a funny stare. He didn't blame her. He'd be looking at him funny too if he could.

But there she was. In all her beauty. He never could resist a woman in a uniform, especially not with one who had curves like _that_. "NO! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!" But his legs took another step forward, and then another one.

He was in the middle of the street by now, crossing over to the other side. Alarms sounded in his head with each step he took and he could mentally feel his conscience beating him upside the head with a mallet to just knock him out so he didn't screw himself over with what he was about to do.

"I must RESIST!" He ground out through clenched teeth. But he was almost directly behind her… he could practically smell and identify the fragrance of her soap.

He shouldn't, he really, really shouldn't. He would be in **big** trouble, far worse than anything he's been in because of his wandering hand. This was bad. This was very bad.

His twitching hand broke free from his left hand's grip and it shook as he tried to control it. It didn't work. His hand was inching closer to the object of its desire. Just a little bit closer and he'd be in deep trouble.

The girl sighed and his resistance dissolved. His hand wandered out and rubbed her rear, stroking fondly. She stiffened.

"You PERVERT!"

He didn't know what hit him. One minute he was enjoying the feel of her backside the next she had managed to twist and contort his body. He was slammed onto the hood of the police car and his arm was painfully and tightly gripped behind his back. He heard the grating of metal and soon cold cuffs were slipped over his wrists.

"You are being arrested for sexual assault on a person of the law. You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions."

Miroku groaned. He tried. He really did try. But her backside and those curves!

"Anything you do or say may be used against you in a court of law."

And her voice! It was like sugar, so sweet! He couldn't resist! It was his damn curse!

"You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future."

If only he hadn't inherited that damn curse! Now he was in trouble. Ahh, but what a way to go.

"If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish."

Truth be told, he'd done some pretty stupid things in the past because of the curse, but this just took the cake.

"If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney."

He supposed it would have been easier to have just said "Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Miroku, cursed grandson of Mushin. Mind if I grope your backside?"

"Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?"

Miroku sat down in the back of the police car and looked into her pretty brown eyes. "Yes, I'm more than willing." He answered.

"Good! I'm a freaking cop, you moron! What the hell were you thinking!" She said before slamming the door closed in his face.

Ahh, she was beautiful. She was fiery. She had a nice, tight ass. Miroku was in love.

The female cop got into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. He could see her shoulders all tensed up and he itched to massage them in order to get rid of the knots. But since he hands were cuffed behind his back… he couldn't quite do it.

"I'm Miroku. What's your name?" He started amiably.

"I don't see how it's any business of yours, but I'm the person who just arrested you for molesting me!" She paused. "The name's Sango."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sango." He saw her face flush through the rearview mirror. "May I have your telephone number and call you once I'm out of jail?"

Her face contorted into one of anger and disbelief. She slammed on the brakes which caused Miroku to jerk forward and hit his forehead on the metal barrier that separated the front seats from the backseats, the cops from the perverted delinquents.

"WHAT?" She turned her head angrily at him and he saw, for a split second, a touch of amusement in her eyes and the twitch of her lip.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Ooookay… so what piece is this?" The man consulted the booklet that came with the game. "A rook? What kind of stupid name is that?" His eyebrow twitched in irritation. "I can't believe I let that flea size of a man, Myoga, talk me into buying a chess board! What am I, stupid?"

He tossed the booklet aside and nearly growled in frustration. Strategy games were never his thing. Old fart past times were not his thing. So what possessed the old fart, Myoga, to think that he would like a game like chess? "What the fuck is this game supposed to accomplish anyway!"

Swinging his legs over the side of the chair he angrily stomped off in the direction of his kitchen and his stash of ramen. He paused as he passed by a full length mirror and straightened out his dark bangs, while inspecting the dark circles under his violet eyes. It was noon, but he had just gotten out of bed. Last night had been rough. He frowned at the memory and chose to ignore it.

Halfway through making his favorite dish, shrimp flavored ramen with added spices since he liked it hot, the phone rang. He rolled his eyes and muttered a "It figures" as he turned off the stove and made his way across his apartment to where the phone was.

"What?" He answered rudely.

"Hey, you're home, Inuyasha!" It was Miroku and he sounded just a _little_ too happy.

"Yeah, why the hell wouldn't I be, bouzo?"

"I just thought you might have stayed with your girl last night."

Inuyasha frowned and gripped the receiver harder. "I don't want to talk about that materialistic, greedy, cheating bitch."

"Oh, something happen between you two? Sorry to hear that, bud. We'll talk about it later. But hey, I need a favor. I'm in a spot of trouble…." Miroku said a little too quickly, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"What kind of a favor?"

"Well… I'm kind of… downtown at the moment. Currently still in handcuffs… Can you come bail me out?"

"YOU'RE IN JAIL! HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN!" Inuyasha yelled incredulously over the phone.

"Well, you know the predicament I'm in… what with my grandfather's last dying wishes and all… I was just out trying to fulfill his last wish before he died. I was searching for a lady and met a wonderful lady cop. Beautiful she is, by the way."

"Uh huh, I can't believe you groped a freaking cop. A cop, you moron!"

"Yeah, that's what she said, too. So, will you come down and get me? The time for my one phone call is almost up."

Inuyasha grinned maliciously. "Yeah, sure I'll come down. Let me get my jacket, it's cold outside. Where're you at?" Inuyasha wrote down the address and hung up laughing at his best friend's situation. He'd always warned Miroku that if he didn't learn to control his perversion and wandering hand it would get him in serious trouble. Miroku had shrugged it off saying that he could control it if he wanted. Tonight would be the perfect lesson for him, and Inuyasha wasn't going to miss it for the world.

He grabbed his dark leather jacket, keys, and his camera and left his apartment, still chuckling evilly.

The police station wasn't too far away and before Inuyasha could fully devise a good plan of action he had already pulled into the parking lot and was walking through the front glass doors.

Chaos.

That was the only word he could come up with to describe the police station. Phones ringing, papers flying in every direction, cops bringing in criminals, people yelling at detectives. It was a madhouse.

Looking around at all the people in uniforms he spotted the one person who stood out amongst the rest. She was tall for a woman, perhaps just a few inches shorter than him, and he was six feet. And she looked annoyed.

There were a couple male cops, one old, one young, laughing to her right. They were no doubt cracking jokes about _something_ that concerned her.

Noticing that there were no other female cops in the building he safely assumed that this was the "lady cop" Miroku met. Inuyasha walked over to her with his arms crossed and a determined look on his face.

"Oi, can you help me with something?" He started.

She looked up from where she was filing through papers and stared back at him. She seemed _very_ annoyed.

"Are you busy, or not? This place is a freaking madhouse." He continued. The other two cops chuckled behind her and she glared at them vehemently.

The cop walked around the desk that separated them, grabbed Inuyasha's upper arm and walked him down a hall that was a bit less crowded than the rest of the place. "What can I help you with?" She asked curtly.

Inuyasha shot her a grin before speaking. "I've come to see a lecher behind bars before bailing his perverted ass out. I'm assuming you're the one whose ass he groped?"

The female cop seemed taken aback by his declaration and then laughed. "How did you know he groped me there?"

"We call it his inherited curse. His grandfather is a complete lech."

Still chuckling the female cop walked Inuyasha down the hallway and into a back room. From there they took a flight of stairs down into the basement where the noise level dropped to nearly nothing.

He followed her into another room and saw a corridor of cells lined up right next to each other. There were a few people in each of the cells and some made catcalls as the female cop walked down the hall. She ignored them.

At the end of the hall Inuyasha spotted Miroku in a cell by himself. He laughed out loud and turned to the female cop. "I know I'm not supposed to, but can I take a picture of him behind bars? It'll make some great Christmas presents in a couple months."

The girl laughed and nodded her head.

Miroku looked up and spotted them and smiled. He then spotted the camera Inuyasha held and his face turned into one of horror. "No, Inuyasha you wouldn't!"

Inuyasha pressed the shutter button and took a look at the picture on the LCD screen before showing it to the female cop.

"Well, well, well, Miroku. This _is_ an interesting position you put me in." Inuyasha said. He leaned against the wall and brought a hand up to his chin to scratch it as if in deep thought.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked worriedly.

"I've always said your hand will get you in serious trouble one day. Maybe I should… but then you would… but then _I _ could…" Inuyasha talked to himself, loving the way it made his best friend sweat. He turned to the cop. "So if I decide to _not_ bail his pervert ass out, how long would he be here for?"

"Inuyasha, you wouldn't!" Miroku pleaded. Inuyasha shot him a devious grin.

"A max of three days." The cop replied, smirking.

"Oh, that seems hardly worth it. What can I do to convince you to keep him here a week?" Inuyasha just loved the horrified look on Miroku's face.

"Wish I could, but there are more perverts out there that need to be cuffed, ones that are not quite as harmless as this one." She replied.

"Damn, then this really isn't worth it, is it? Fine, let the pervert out." Inuyasha said.

The cop walked over and jangled a few keys around before finding the correct one. She unlocked the door and let it swing open for Miroku to walk out. Inuyasha watched as the pervert's face smiled.

"Thank you, Inuyasha! I'll pay you back, I swear!" And then he turned his attention to the female cop. "And dearest Sango, it has been an absolute pleasure meeting you and being manhandled by you, " Inuyasha's eye twitched in irritation. "I must ask before I leave, though. Will you please do me the honor of bearing my child?"

Inuyasha snapped. He grabbed his friend by the cuff of his shirt and threw him back into the cell, letting the cell door slam behind him. The cop stared at him incredulously.

"On second thought, let's leave him in there for the night. See ya, Miroku." Inuyasha said while Miroku sputtered from the floor. Inuyasha walked away.

--------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe you went to Starbucks for a coffee! I thought you were really going to leave me there!" Miroku said indignantly.

"I thought about it, but then decided against it. I have a picture for enough blackmail for the rest of your life. You'll be punished enough."

"Gee, thanks, Inuyasha. What a great friend you are."

"Keh, anytime, bouzo." Inuyasha saw Miroku roll his eyes.

"What happened last night, Inuyasha. Have a fight with your girl?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha immediately frowned and stayed silent for the moment it took for them to cross the parking lot to Inuyasha's car.

"We went to that party last night." When Inuyasha didn't seem to want to continue Miroku gave him an urging hand gesture. "She disappeared somewhere and I went looking for her. I found her locked in the bathroom, sucking some guy like he was a lollipop."

Miroku winced. "How many girls have cheated on you now? What makes this one?"

"Four girls. This is the third in a row."

"Why do girls always want to cheat on you, Inuyasha? You've got the worst luck I've ever seen!"

"This one told me I was a rude and arrogant bastard. She told me I never seemed to care enough. Which is true, I guess. I haven't really cared about a girl for the last five years, since I was twenty. But this bitch really hit home when she said the only thing that had kept her from dumping me was because of my money."

"Ouch! Maybe you should just stay single for a while."

"Yeah…" Inuyasha agreed. "I called her a greedy, materialistic bitch and left." He grinned.

"How's your mom doing, Inuyasha?"

"She's fine." He said curtly, his tone of voice clearly telling Miroku to back off.

Miroku did back off and instead pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. His kissed it and grinned. Inuyasha looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What the heck is that?"

"This, my friend, is Sango's home phone number. She told me to call her." Miroku replied.

Inuyasha stopped walking abruptly and stared at him. "THE COP? YOU GOT THE COP'S PHONE NUMBER! HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT!"

--------------------------------------------------------

AN: yes, as you have noticed… Inuyasha is human in this story. It just seemed more appropriate for everyone to be human. So now you've met the majority of the characters in this story. Inuyasha and Kagome will meet in the next chapter so stay tuned!


	4. Happy Birthday

AN: sorry for the long wait, guys! But I have my new laptop and midterms are over! The final chapter of Sex and Drugs is still in the process of being written. I had to rewrite it because I lost what I had written when my last laptop died. But until then, enjoy this chapter!

**Warning**: **angst and some language**

**A Whore's Life**

_Chapter 3:_ Happy Birthday

Inuyasha gripped the receiver of the phone hard, causing his knuckles to turn white. On the other line of the phone was a man whom he hated above all others. His arrogance and aura of superiority rubbed Inuyasha the wrong way. Not to mention that this man had developed a strong liking to beating him up at every opportunity.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru. It's my birthday and you're ruining it." Inuyasha ground out through his teeth.

"I'm not calling to provoke you, little brother," Sesshoumaru started calmly. "I'm calling bearing grave news. Your mother has lost her battle with breast cancer and has passed away during the night."

Inuyasha slumped down into the nearest chair, shocked and unable to speak. His mind was blank, denial springing to life.

"Y-You're joking, right? This is just some sick joke you've decided to play, isn't it? Because this is really not funny, Sesshoumaru."

"Your presence is required today for the reading of the will and to make preparations for the funeral. Seeing as you were her only living relative before she passed everything falls onto your shoulders." Sesshoumaru paused, waiting for any indication that his brother was still listening.

After a few moments of silence Inuyasha spoke, "I've always known you to be a bastard, Sesshoumaru, but this time you've gone too far." Inuyasha gave a small, disbelieving laugh.

"Inuyasha, listen to me. Your mother is dead. Pull yourself together and meet me at the lawyers office at noon. Afterwards I will take you to the morgue so you may…see her… if you so wish." Sesshoumaru sighed and hung up the phone.

Inuyasha stared at the receiver expecting Sesshoumaru to admit to his sick joke and laugh in Inuyasha's face. When all he heard was the operator asking him to hang up and try his number again the harsh reality of the situation began to sink in.

His mother was dead. His only living relative that cared.

-------------------------------------------

The following week flew by in a blur. Inuyasha took the entire week off to prepare for the funeral and sign legal document after legal document. There was no time for him to grieve, so when the day of the funeral arrived he felt like he was attending someone else's mother's funeral instead of his own.

The day was pleasant, chilly but sunny with little cloud. It dampened Inuyasha's already sour mood knowing the gods were laughing at him by allowing the weather to be pleasant rather than damp and gloomy like a funeral was supposed to be.

A large crowd, all dressed in black, gathered around the elaborate cherry wood coffin adorned with Lily of the Valley flowers. Soft music played in the background and people talked in whispers.

But when the priest approached and started off with a prayer Inuyasha found his mind refused to focus on the words and began to drift.

A hand rested on his shoulder in support and Inuyasha knew it was Miroku without looking.

The priest continued to speak, and soft sobs and whimpers echoed in Inuyasha's ears. Still, he could hear nothing as events from the past week kept replaying in his mind.

Choosing the final resting place, the coffin, for his mother had been most difficult. It would be the last bed she would ever lie in. He nearly punched the person trying to sell him the coffin just out of spite.

Choosing the clothes she would wear had been far easier. He already knew what she would have wanted to wear, it was her favorite traditional kimono made of silk. The sicko that was to dress his dead mother and apply her make-up strongly objected to his choice, claiming the kimono to be a family heirloom and priceless. He stated quite frankly that the kimono should be hung in a museum rather than dressed on a corpse. Inuyasha _did_ punch the guy for that comment.

In the middle of his thoughts Inuyasha heard the priest call his name. He stepped forward, ignoring the condolences and wet faces as he passed by. He kept his hands in the pockets of his suite and refused to meet anyone's eye.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to recite the speech he had prepared the night before, and then shut it. When he looked around all the expectant faces he decided to toss out the prepared speech and speak whatever came to him.

"I'm not ready to say good-bye, not yet. She was the only one to love me wholly and see through all my temper tantrums and she even hugged me when I was arrested for getting into a bar fight…" He paused and regarded the shocked faces with apathy.

"I can't say good-bye to the one woman who has loved me unconditionally, not yet. And I can't share to you how much her presence will be missed. She was the most understanding and patient person, even throughout my teenage years I have never once heard her raise her voice or become angry. Every time I got in trouble, each time I got hurt, every time a woman cheated on me, every moment I succeeded and accomplished something… she was always there. She always understood and always gave out a hug and advice, which I almost never followed just to spite her. I can't say good-bye to her, because she'll never leave me. She'll always be my conscience, telling me that ramen is not a breakfast food and to replace the toilet paper roll when the last one runs out of paper…" Inuyasha paused and smiled when he heard a few chuckles. "She'll always be with me."

Inuyasha continued his short speech, reminiscing of times past, of hurtful memories and of fond memories. He spoke without truly knowing what he was saying but kept on speaking anyway until at last when the backs of his eyes started to prickle he said his "I'll see you again someday, mom" and walked back to his position on the right side of the coffin.

Miroku's hand dropped on Inuyasha's shoulder again, and once more Inuyasha tuned everything out and refused to listen to the other speeches.

Time passed and soon final farewells were said as the many grievers began to depart, leaving only Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sesshoumaru behind. Sesshoumaru soon left, without a word, and Miroku departed as well, stating he would wait in the car to drive Inuyasha back to his apartment.

When everyone had left, leaving just Inuyasha behind, he seemed to come to… only then realizing the funeral was over and that it was his turn to finally let go and say good-bye. But he couldn't form the words. His tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth and his brain refused to cooperate. So he just stared at the wood coffin.

After a few moments he let out a loud sniff and stepped forward to place two lily of the valley flowers on top of the coffin then turned around to walk back to the car. "I can't say good-bye to you, mom, not just yet. Time was stolen from us."

He walked through the large and eerily quiet cemetery without looking at the surroundings until he heard a woman clear her throat to his left.

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head, his eyebrows furrowing in anger.

"What are you doing here?" He spat out.

"I came to see you…. I heard about your mother and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Inuyasha snorted in disbelief. "Well I'm fine, so beat it." He continued walking to the car, ignoring the woman as she ran to catch up with and match his long strides.

"I also came by to apologize." She said. When Inuyasha refused to say anything she continued, "I was drunk that night, Inu-baby, I didn't know what I was doing. I was hoping we could talk about this and see if we could work things out between us." Inuyasha stopped walking to listen but didn't look at her. "I'm sorry, Inu-baby. I hope you can forgive me someday."

"Did you practice saying all that bullshit?" Inuyasha snapped.

"What?" She stepped back at his sudden outburst.

"Do you honestly expect me to think you were drunk? Because I have _never_ heard a drunk person talk so coherently before in my entire life."

"Inu-baby, please!"

"Shut it, wench! I am _not_ your baby, and never was. It is just as you said in that bathroom after I caught you cheating on me… I never truly cared for you." He said slowly, the fists at his side began to shake in anger, but he would never lash out at her. He could never hurt a woman physically.

"You don't understand! You have to believe me! He must have given me some kind of drug, or something! All I ever wanted was to be with you!" The woman stepped forward and grasped Inuyasha's suit. He shrugged her off a little harder than he intended.

"Ha! You never wanted to be with me! I knew that from the start! Do you honestly believe me to be that dense? I knew from the beginning you just wanted my money! You wanted to live in comfort and style and have a good screw. And now that my mom is dead and I'm to inherit a lot you come crawling back to me claiming to have been drugged! I'm not stupid!"

"Inuyasha, please! That's not it at all!" She pleaded.

"Get lost, Kikyou, I want nothing to do with you." He said and then walked away leaving her alone in the cemetery.

By the time he reached the car he was seething and bubbling with nearly uncontrolled anger. He spotted a street stand near the car and walked toward it instead. He heard Miroku call out his name from within the car, but ignored him.

"Oi," Inuyasha said loudly in order to get the vendor's attention. "How much for a pack of these?" He said, pointing to a pack of cigarettes. Before waiting he placed some money on the counter and took a pack and a lighter.

Inuyasha quickly lit one and took a long draft while watching a frowning Miroku approach.

"I didn't know you smoked." Miroku said, waving away the noxious fumes.

"I don't. Well, I don't normally. Kikyou showed up and it was either punch her or smoke a cigarette. And I don't hit women."

Miroku wrapped an arm around Inuyasha's shoulders and walked him back to the car. Inuyasha dropped the smoldering cigarette to the concrete below and stepped on it.

"Ya know, Inuyasha, we never got a chance to celebrate your birthday. How about we go someplace tonight. Maybe I'll be able to convince Sango to join us. How about it?" Miroku said a bit too cheerily. "I've got a great present for you, but unfortunately I can't give it to you just yet, bud. I'm still negotiating with this sleazy, but cunning…er…salesman… over the price…. So until then, let's go out and celebrate your twenty-sixth!"

"Yeah, happy fucking birthday to me." Inuyasha replied.

-------------------------------------------

It was morning. Thank god, it was morning. The night had been awful. There were just one too many Johns and Kagome didn't think her body could take any more abuse.

For the last two weeks, ever since Kagome declared to The Benefactor that she would be leaving, the number of Johns seemed to have doubled. It was like being the newbie on the block all over again.

Kagome groaned and robed herself before walking down the familiar dirty hallways with all the other girls, the thick wad of cash hidden in her inside robe pocket.

There was already a line when she reached The Benefactor's office and she could smell the disgusting stench of cigar smoked laced in among the smell of sex and sweat.

Next to her Eri and Ayumi chatted amiably, talking about that night and the Johns they received. Kagome noticed that they never talked about their regulars, and wondered if they even had regulars to talk about. Before she was able to voice her question The Benefactor called her into his office. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, masking her hatred of the man.

He leaned back in his chair as she entered, a very large, very malicious grin plastered to his face. Placing the cigar in his mouth he looked her up and down, just like every other morning.

"Close the door, Higurashi." He said. She complied without so much as a word and then turned to face the hated man once more. She heard the noisy talking outside the office change to excited whispers; The Benefactor never closed his door unless there was something very important or serious going on.

"Someone's taken an interest in you, Higurashi." He started, his eyes wandering everywhere but her face. She said nothing and quelled the urge to cross her arms across her chest. She stuck her chin out defiantly.

"Stubborn as ever I see. I suppose you've noticed the increase in Johns lately. You certainly smell like it, you reek worse than a dead pig."

He was trying to goad her. He was trying to provoke her into getting angry with him. It was working.

"I lowered the price on your pretty face to teach you that you're no better than the rest of the whores in my house. I've been getting quite a lot of feedback. I'm considering keeping it this way." His cold eyes gleamed with amusement. "In fact, I've thought about lowering it even more and increasing your Johns to about ten to fifteen a night."

"You wouldn't dare!" Kagome snapped. She stepped forward and slapped both hands down onto his wooden desk. Her robe slid, exposing her shoulder. The Benefactor stared at the exposed flesh completely unabashed.

"You don't want the extra money?" He said calmly, drawing on his cigar and blowing the smoke in her face. She turned her head as her eyes began to water.

"You want out, Higurashi? You want to be free of this place? To no longer stink like a constantly rutting animal?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed. There was a catch. There was always a catch with this man.

"What's going on in that sick head of yours? What's the catch?"

"Ah, as perceptive as always. I knew from the moment you walked in this office for the first time you were too smart for this place… and I wondered how long it would take you to figure it out."

"What's the catch, Onigumo!" Kagome yelled.

The Benefactor's eyes narrowed as he stood. With a quick jerk of his hand Kagome fell backwards, sprawled on the floor clutching her cheek where she had been backhanded. Her eyes stung with the tears she refused to let fall. She would not show any weakness to this man.

"You do _not_ yell at me, whore! You do _not_ call me by name! I am in charge and you _will_ obey without question!" The Benefactor roared.

Outside the office there were audible gasps and excited murmurs. Kagome ignored them and swore under her breath as she tasted salty blood on her lower lip. It was already beginning to swell.

"I'm feeling generous and giving you an opportunity to redeem yourself as well as rid yourself as a common whore in this house." The Benefactor reverted back to his normal, slimy, malicious self and slinked back into his chair. He crossed his legs and regarded Kagome with interest and slight contempt.

"You? Generous?" Kagome wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand, smearing it across her face.

"There is a former client with a very wealthy friend. He wishes to give his wealthy friend an unforgettable birthday. He asked for the best in this house and assured me a great sum of money. I showed him all the girls' pictures and he selected you." The Benefactor paused to light another cigar.

"After some… negotiating… we came to a price and you will show this wealthy friend a good time for one entire night." The Benefactor waited patiently for Kagome's response.

"So where's the catch?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicious. "There has to be more than just bedding a former client's wealthy friend for a night."

The Benefactor grinned. "You, Higurashi, have a knack for getting regulars. No other whore in the house has regulars but you." He paused. "I'm willing to strike a compromise. You will be granted freedom from this house under two conditions. The first is that you make this wealthy friend want to become a regular of yours and thus a regular of this house. The second condition is that when this wealthy friend has become a regular of this house you will become my whore and my whore alone. I will see you every night and during the day you are as free as a bird."

"That's what you call freedom?" Kagome's anger spiked again. "I will never sleep with you!"

"What is worse, whore? Sleeping with just two men on a regular basis or screwing ten to fifteen every night for a living?"

Kagome was trapped any way she looked at it. If she refused his offer she would be forced to sleep with twice the men she normally slept with. She would be The Benefactor's slave, doing his bidding… unable to leave. On the other hand, if she were to accept his offer she would only have to put up with The Benefactor and this wealthy friend at night and be free to do as she pleased otherwise. But in the end she would still be trapped… under The Benefactor's constant surveillance. She didn't know what the lesser of two evils was.

"I'll agree, so long as I still get to keep the wages earned from the wealthy friend. And I want Saturday nights off for myself." Kagome said.

"You have no right to make negotiations, girl. I should flat-out refuse. But this wealthy friend is… very wealthy… and there is also no guarantee you'll make him a regular. But, if you do, then you get Saturdays off and your wages."

Kagome smiled and let out the breath she had been holding. She took out the money earned from the previous evening and gave it to him. He smirked, took it, and made a shooing motion... clearly meaning her to leave.

"What about my money?" She asked.

"What money? In our deal we never agreed that I would pay you until you did your thing with the wealthy friend."

"What kind of backhanded trickery is that!" She screeched. He only smirked in reply. "Fine! We also never agreed that I would work until then, either!" She turned and stomped out of the office and into the crowd of shocked girls.

Her three friends caught up with her quickly and started bombarding her with questions about the deal they had heard.

"I am so jealous, Kagome! The Benefactor _never_ makes deals like that! And you won't have to work until then! And you'll be free!"

"Don't be silly, Yuka. I won't be free. The Benefactor would never allow me to be free. I'll be caged, like a bird. You heard him; I'll be his whore to do with as he pleases. He has no intention of letting me leave." Kagome replied quietly.

-------------------------------------------

A week had passed since the funeral and Inuyasha was ready to strangle anyone and everyone that came within ten feet of him offering their condolences. He had never been so annoyed in his entire life. Why wouldn't these people just leave him alone?

"Cheer up, Inuyasha! They're just doing and saying what they think is best!" Miroku said.

"Yeah, well I wish they wouldn't! It's ticking me off!" Inuyasha noticed that his shoe was untied and bent down to redo the laces. "So where the hell are you taking me, bouzo?" He didn't like the smile that had been plastered to Miroku's face ever since they left his apartment.

"I told you. I'm taking you to your belated birthday present." Miroku smiled. "I've booked a room in the nicest hotel around and arranged for you to get a massage by a very pretty lady."

"Massages are for chicks, bouzo, why would I want one of those?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes when he discovered he accidentally tied his index finger in with the laces. He untied them and started to redo them.

"Because, Inuyasha, you've been so stressed out and irritable it's becoming very difficult to be around you. I've spent far too much money on this hotel suite and masseuse for you to just reject the birthday present, go back to your apartment and wallow in your own self-pity."

"Keh!"

"Hey, mister!"

Inuyasha turned his head to the side at the precise moment a little boy tugged on his raven locks sharply.

"Oi! Don't do that, runt! That hurts!"

"Do you need help tying your shoes? I can teach you! I just learned!" The little boy beamed and tugged on Inuyasha's hair again.

"Get lost, runt!" Inuyasha said, annoyed.

"I wanna help!" The boy said animatedly before giving Inuyasha a light shove that sent him falling on his backside. The little boy then sat at Inuyasha's feet and started to tie his laces.

"I said get lost, runt! Where the hell is your mom?" Inuyasha yelled.

"Right here, you inconsiderate jerk!" A portly woman's purse smacked against the side of Inuyasha's head and he swore colorfully as he saw stars. "Don't use that language in front of my little boy!" She smacked him on the other side of his head, picked up the little boy and walked away.

"Ah! I think my ear is bleeding! Stupid woman!" Inuyasha rubbed both ears and glared at Miroku who was trying hard not to laugh.

Inuyasha stood up and had every intention of just walking off and leaving Miroku behind if it were not for the fact his shoes had been tied together rather than separately. He waved his arms wildly around to regain balance before falling face first into the concrete. Miroku cracked up and nearly doubled over in laughter.

"Kuso! Damn kids! I'm never getting one of those!" Inuyasha declared grumpily.

"Inuyasha you can't **get** kids like a doll at a toy store."

"Whatever! All they do is whine, throw tantrums, eat, and poop. What good are they for anyway?"

"Hmm, that sounds strangely familiar, Inuyasha. Are you sure you're-" Miroku started.

"Can it, bouzo! Let's just get this over with!" Inuyasha said before stalking off.

Miroku rubbed his temples in small circles and prayed to god that Inuyasha's birthday present was as good as her boss said she was. He had to admit, he was a little jealous.

Inuyasha and Miroku arrived at the hotel and entered, staring at the general splendor all around them. It was elaborately decorated and people of class walked in and out the front doors without glancing at the two out-of-place friends. Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.

"Jeez, Miroku, you could have told me to find a tie or something… everyone is wearing a friggin suit or ball gown."

Miroku ignored his comment and headed toward the reception desk. The employee behind the desk looked at them and downright sneered. "May I help you… _sirs_?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"My friend has a reservation for this evening. It should be under Aomori Miroku and it should be prepaid."

"Very well, everything seems to be in order. Here is your key card. Your room is on the sixth floor, suite number six fifty-eight. Your company should arrive by nine this evening. Shall I send anything up to your room, sir?" The employee handed the key card to Inuyasha who looked at Miroku.

"My… company?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He means the masseuse, that's all." Miroku replied before shoving Inuyasha towards the elevator. "Anyway, I've gotta run. You enjoy your night and go ahead and pig out on the snickers candy bars in the fridge and order room service! I hear there's a hot tub, too! Enjoy yourself, pal!" Miroku shoved the perplexed Inuyasha in the elevator and nearly ran away.

"Uh…wha…?"

When Inuyasha finally found his suite on the sixth floor (Who knew the sixth floor was so huge?), he paused in front of the door. Something just didn't seem right and he hesitated before sliding the key card in the lock.

The room had to be awful for Miroku to run away like that. Or maybe the masseuse was really some sixty-five year old hag with sagging boobs and a voice like Jimmy Hendrix. The thought made Inuyasha grin.

He opened the door and allowed his jaw to hang open. For once the lech had done something right!

"Holy shit!"

The room was huge with a living room complete with a large screen TV, computer with internet access, and leather couches, a kitchen with a full refrigerator and cappuccino maker, and a bedroom with a king size bed, another large flat panel screen TV. Inuyasha briefly glanced in the bathroom and wondered how they had made a Jacuzzi the size of the king size bed.

Inuyasha grinned and vowed to not send a Christmas card containing the photo of Miroku in jail to his parents. Overall, Inuyasha thought, this was by far the best birthday gift Miroku had given him yet… far better than his twenty-first birthday when he took Inuyasha to a strip club blind folded and left him in the care of Betty, the stripper with implants so large they were bigger than his head.

Inuyasha immediately went to the fridge, took a snickers bar, plopped down on the feather bed and turned on the TV. He glanced at the clock and thought about the masseuse that was supposed to arrive in about two hours.

-------------------------------------------

Kagome had spent the entire day getting ready. Too much was at stake to have something simple like bad breath ruin her chances at a chained freedom. She took every precaution, and even walked to the expensive hotel fully knowing The Benefactor would giver her wrong directions in attempt to see her fail. He didn't disappoint. His directions would have sent her to the other side of town.

Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi stayed awake during the day to help her get ready. They managed to find a thrift shop and purchased a decent looking, but revealing dress so Kagome wouldn't have to wear the whore clothes supplied by The Benefactor.

Her shoes were a pair of black stilettos. They were scuffed, but they were cheap. Her three friends even went out to buy some nice smelling soap, but couldn't afford the perfume.

Kagome was very grateful to them. They had pulled all their money for the week together to buy these things in order to give Kagome a fighting chance.

So there she was, standing in the lobby of the most exquisite hotel she had ever seen and she felt immediately out-of-place and inadequate. Whoever this wealthy friend was… he must be _very_ wealthy.

Kagome walked to the desk with as much dignity as she possibly had, but was well aware of the white stain on the hem of her black stress and the scuff on her stilettos. At least her hair looked nice.

"Excuse me," She said. The employee looked up and gave her a disapproving frown. "I-I'm expected. A guest of…" She paused to look at the name on the card The Benefactor had given her. "I'm a guest of Aomori Miroku."

The look of disapproval only increased as he handed her a slip of paper with the suite number and floor. Kagome said thank you through gritted teeth and walked away, completely ignored.

"One day, when I'm no longer under The Benefactor's leash I'll come back wearing something nice and show you I'm no one to be ignored or treated like dirt." She vowed before entering the elevator.

No matter how nice she thought she looked in comparison to what she usually looked like, she was afraid that this wealthy friend wouldn't see that. She was afraid that her chances at a leashed freedom were already dashed to ribbons based on the attire seen on everyone all around her.

-------------------------------------------

Inuyasha yawned and looked at the clock. The masseuse was late and he was getting annoyed. It wasn't because he wanted the massage; it was because he wanted to see how Miroku screwed up. If the room was nice, then the masseuse _had_ to be less than nice. There was no way his friend could get _both_ of them right.

Inuyasha turned off the TV and heard a knock on the door a second later. "About damn time!" He said aloud.

He made his way to the door and let it fly open with a scowl on his face, expecting to see a middle aged woman in white with a no-nonsense attitude.

He blinked a few times and stared at the young woman in shock before shaking his head in disbelief.

She was stunning.

"Aomori Miroku?" The young woman read from a card and then looked him in the eye.

He shook his head and then frowned. Something was up. Something had to be wrong. There was no way Miroku could get a great room and beautiful girl.

She fidgeted and apologized before turning away.

"Oi, where d'ya think you're going? Miroku is my friend. He booked this room for me."

The young woman stopped and turned, her hair bounced and settled on her shoulder. His breath caught when she smiled at him mischievously.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome, your company for this evening." Her voice was like sugar, sweet and sinful at the same time.

Inuyasha opened the door wider and stepped aside so she could enter. He noticed she didn't carry any oils or towels, or cart and wondered why. Something was _definitely_ up.

Inuyasha eyed the young woman carefully as she removed her coat to reveal smooth, pale shoulders. She draped it on the leather sofa and turned around to face him. He swallowed hard; her dress was just a _little_ too low cut for comfort and there was just the perfect amount of cleavage showing. He tried swallowing again only to find his throat oddly dry.

"So, how do you like it, sugar? What's your fantasy?" She walked toward him. He was glued to the spot. She eyed him like a hungry tiger. Something was _definitely_ up.

"Er…wha?" He said, sounding completely intelligent. She smiled and traced a finger along his jawline.

"What's your fantasy, sugar? I'm yours for the entire night, here to do your bidding. What makes you hot?"

Reality came crashing down on Inuyasha like a ton of bricks.

"What the fuck is going on! Who the hell are you?" He yelled. The young woman seemed taken aback, her eyes wide.

"Who do you think I am? I'm your company for the evening, the company your friend hired!" She yelled back.

"Oh shit! You're a prostitute! Oh, when I get my hands on that lech's throat I'm going to squeeze until there's no air left to squeeze out! He told me he hired a freaking masseuse!"

Suddenly things made sense. And Inuyasha was ticked off more than ever.

"A masseuse! Oh hell no! That is _not_ what I was hired for!"

"Listen, princess, I'm not sleeping with a prostitute so you can just walk your cute ass right back out that door!"

"Uh uh! I was hired for this entire evening and I can't leave now! There must be _something_ that you want!"

"Yeah! I want you to leave! As much as I like sex, princess, I'm not desperate enough to get it from a prostitute and risk getting herpes or HIV, so beat it!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I am completely clean and have never gotten any disease from anyone!"

"Yeah, so you say! Listen, if I have to throw you out I will. There is no way I'm sleeping with a prostitute! The very idea makes me sick!"

To Inuyasha's astonishment the young woman dropped her head to stare at the floor and her body visibly shook. When she spoke it was with a forced calmness, but Inuyasha could see the seething anger just below the surface.

"What makes you think doing what I do doesn't make _me_ sick? Have you any idea what I've gone through? Have you any idea that what happens tonight will either grant me freedom from the whorehouse or chain me there forever? I didn't choose this life, you know!"

"Why the hell should I care?" He argued back. She raised her head and met his eyes. He became entranced by the angry beauty, her eyes a chocolate brown laced with blue and green near the pupil. Inuyasha became tongue-tied and couldn't finish his sentence.

"Fine! It's not like I wanted to sleep with you anyway!" She almost made it towards the door when Inuyasha jumped out and grabbed her arm without even knowing why.

"Where are you going?" He asked forcefully.

"Back to the whorehouse, asshole, where do you think I'm going?" She spat. "Now let go."

For some reason Inuyasha liked seeing the fiery young woman angry. For some reason it felt really good to have someone yell back at him and not cower from him when he was angry. For some reason, he didn't want that feeling to go away. And _that_ feeling scared him shitless.

Miroku paid you to stay here for the night. I refuse to sleep with you, but I'm not going to send you crawling back to screw a bunch of other guys either. I'm not that cruel." Her eyes softened and he found himself staring into them once more, not entirely knowing why.

"Thank you, but I wasn't paid to stay here tonight. The Benefactor was paid, not me. I don't get a dime. There's no reason for me to stay." She tugged her arm free from his grip and left the suite, letting the door close behind her.

Inuyasha stared at the door for a moment and then pounded his head against the plastic a few times for good measure, "What the hell is _wrong_ with me!" He asked no one.

"A lot. But nothing a little Prozac and a polo mallet can't cure…" Inuyasha stopped pounding his head against the door and stared through the peep hole and saw the young woman leaning against the door. She didn't leave after all.

So he opened the door and since she was leaning against the door she fell flat on her back and stared up at him wide-eyed, her hair spread all over the carpeting.

Inuyasha looked at her in amusement and offered her a hand in order to help her to her feet. She took it and Inuyasha reveled in the feel of her delicate, soft, and small hand.

"What did you say was wrong with me?" He grinned.

His grin grew even wider when she flushed and pouted. "A lot. But nothing a little Prozac and a polo mallet can't cure." She mumbled.

"That's what I thought you said." Inuyasha replied laughing. He closed the door and headed for the refrigerator. He fished out a snickers bar and a couple sodas before tossing the candy bar to the unsuspecting girl. She fumbled and dropped the candy.

"You're pretty damn clumsy." He said, enjoying the way her face flushed in embarrassment.

"You're pretty damn rude." She replied as she bent over to pick up the candy bar.

"That's what people tell me." Inuyasha walked over to her and handed her the can of soda, which she took gratefully. She murmured her thanks and began to eat. "You're staying here tonight. I'm still not going to sleep with you, but I'm not going to feed you to the hungry perverted wolves on thirty-second and fifth."

She laughed and Inuyasha discovered he liked the sound almost as much as he liked getting her angry. Almost.

"I haven't worked thirty-second and fifth in over a year."

Inuyasha walked over to the leather couches, sat down and turned on the TV. He motioned her to follow, which she did reluctantly. She sat on the opposite side of the couch, furthest from him, and flushed.

"Two questions. If you're a prostitute and you've been one for at least a year then why are you so skittish and sitting on the opposite end of the couch? And who is The Benefactor?" He asked while resting his legs on the coffee table.

"The Benefactor is my pimp. He's the sleaziest person you could possibly ever meet. And I'm not skittish!" Inuyasha grinned as she flushed a darker shade of pink.

"You so are skittish. You're blushing like a little schoolgirl. Admit it!" He liked poking fun of her. He wanted to see how far he could get before getting her angry. He discovered that it didn't take much.

"I'm not blushing! I'm just… hot! It's warm in here!" He could see through her lie, and apparently she knew it. "Okay fine! I'm skittish because all of my clients are about twice my age, fat, bald, and ugly! And it's not like I go around making pleasantries with them either!" She pouted and made a "hmph"-ing noise.

"Ah, so I'm making you skittish because I'm young, good-looking, and still have hair?" He bit his lip to keep from laughing as her eyes grew wide and she blushed once more.

"No! That's not what I meant at all! I just meant that you're not my usual client!" she said angrily.

"But I'm not your client, princess. I'm just the good-looking, young, dark haired man sitting next to you." He let out a soft snort of laughter at her enraged but still blushing face. She really was stunning when she was angry.

"Stop making fun of me!" She glared at him angrily and noticed how he was nearly doubled over and shaking, trying not to laugh.

Inuyasha was smacked with a pillow and he soon heard the sound of stilettos make their way to the suite door.

"Oi! Come back! I'll stop making fun of you! Come on back and pick out a movie, any movie you want. I'll let you order room service since you seem half-starved and way too skinny."

The woman paused and turned around. "Room service? Really?"

Inuyasha grinned. "Absolutely. Anything and everything you want off the menu."

He watched as she took off her shoes and headed back over. He found the menu and allowed her to look through it. She was almost drooling. It made him angry seeing how hungry this poor girl was.

"What'd you say your name was again?" He asked as she flipped the page.

"Kagome." She replied automatically. "I don't think I ever got your name. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"It's Inuyasha." He said still frowning noticing the way her eyes seemed to eat the words on the menu. "Here," Inuyasha handed her a pencil. "circle anything and everything you want. Don't be shy and forget about the price. Circle anything even if it's far more than you can eat. I'll order it and you can go ahead and jump in the swimming pool in the bathroom."

"Swimming pool?" She asked surprised.

"It's a Jacuzzi, but it's bigger than the bed, so that's a swimming pool in my mind. Go ahead, go swimming and indulge yourself. I'll order your food."

Kagome smiled at him, circled what she wanted and bounded off in search of the bathroom.

Inuyasha found himself angry. Kagome seemed like such a nice girl and far too smart to get involved in prostitution. She was too thin, in his opinion, and by the look on her face as she read the menu she hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.

When the food arrived Inuyasha knocked on the bathroom door and she emerged wearing a white bathrobe. He decided then and there she looked as good in white and she did black.

They had ordered enough food for two families and ate a good portion of it. They bickered and Inuyasha sniggered every time he embarrassed her or made her angry. Each time he sniggered he discovered a potato or carrot or grains of rice in his hair from Kagome flinging it at him.

Inuyasha allowed Kagome to choose a movie and was surprised when she didn't pick a chick flick from among the hundred movies to choose from. But halfway through the movie she fell asleep and Inuyasha carried her to the bedroom, tucking her in and all.

He fell asleep on the leather couch wondering just what had driven this young woman, this Kagome, to prostitution and how he could help her get out of it.

-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------

AN: wow, that turned out to be a loooong chapter! By far the longest I've ever written. It didn't turn out as I had planned, but hopefully it got the point across. :) I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will have to wait until I've finished writing the last chapter of Sex and Drugs.


	5. Ultimate Anonymity

AN: Sorry this took such a long while. School has been killer. But finals are over with and I have a month off to play with the characters of this story! Just so you know, this chapter skips around in time a bit. I've marked where time change occurs.

**Fact: the average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years old; 1/3 of all prostitutes are teenagers.**

**Fact: On average, prostitutes have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average**

**Fact: ****During WW II, the Japanese military forced from 100,000 to 200,000 Korean women into prostitution to service their military.**

**Fact: Pimps target girls or women who seem naive, lonely, homeless, and rebellious. 85-90 of all prostitution is pimp controlled.**

**Fact: Japan's sex industry accounts for 1 of the GNP, and equals the defense budget. Japan's sex industry is one of the largest in the world.**

**A Whore's Life**

_Chapter 4: Ultimate Anonymity_

_The Present: _

_Two weeks after the meeting with Inuyasha._

He was back again. The same slimy black hair, jagged yellowing nails, and toothless, coffee stained grin. And he always smelled of smoke. He carried pornographic magazines, or clippings from said magazines… to show exactly what he wanted to do or be done.

It made her gag. Each time was worse than the last. Each time his visage grew uglier and more distorted. Each time she feared was her last.

He was a John. No first name, no last name. He was male and he was termed John.

He used her. He abused her. He treated her like the scum of the Earth. He called her a walking infestation, the vaginal slime – dirty and used. And then he would walk away and forget about her. He paid for her. He received his pleasure. That's what she was there for, and not for remembering names… caresses… memories. She was just an object to be used, broken, and forgotten about.

She stopped counting after her twenty-fourth false name, the ultimate anonymity. Cherry tart, dolly, baby, cutie, cupcake… all false names for who she really was. False names meant no name to remember. The passing fancy of a John loving the idea of the ultimate anonymous woman.

Their faces had begun to blur into a mass of multicolored, ugly blobs. They were frightening. They were repulsive. They were male in every aspect, but they were a monster.

As the John closed the door on his way out, his dark colored winter coat slung over his shoulder, all light pouring in from the hallway was cut off, leaving her alone in a room of eternal darkness.

A tear slid down her cheek and she gave up hope that she would ever break free from this nightmare.

…………………………………….

_Two weeks earlier_

_The morning after the meeting with Inuyasha_

…………………………………….

_Little slut. Walking down the paved sidewalk wearing a skimpy dress like that. It's cold outside. I bet her nipples are hard. I'd like to tweak them… and then twist 'em so hard she screams. The ultimate purple nurple, heh._

_But soon, love, soon. You'll understand my pain as if it were yours._

_All I need now is a little more time… just a little. Just enough to finalize the last bit of phase one._

_Turn me away, will you? You'll regret it. That's a promise._

_All I need is a little more time, and an old friend. An old friend who owes me a favor. You know this old friend, don't you, you little whore? Oh yes, yes you do._

_This friend of mine is closer than you think. This friend… he will be your downfall._

_He'll help me tear your life apart. Hurt the ones you love. But it'll be me who gets to you in the end._

_Soon, love. soon. And the beginning of your end will commence._

…………………………………….

Walking back from the hotel the next morning was like tying a noose around her neck and willingly walking up the steps to the gallows. She was condemning herself to death.

The entire walk back seemed bleak, even the normally crystalline blue skies seemed to sense her trepidation and turned an ugly gray with the promise of freezing rain. Overnight the air grew chilly and frost covered the windshields of the cars in the parking lot. Winter was coming.

With that thought in mind Kagome stopped at a consignment shop near her apartment to see if the owner was in a good mood. She knew him well enough that he would barter objects for clothes instead of money.

A bell on the door jingled as she walked inside and she breathed in the stuffy warm air of a well heated building. She wasn't looking forward to going back to her own apartment. They couldn't afford heat during the winter.

"Kagome! Well don't you look nice!"

"Thanks, Bhadraksh. I was hoping you'd notice. Any chance I might be able to barter it off for a winter coat?" Kagome asked with a look of desperation in her eyes.

Kagome met Bhadraksh a little over a year ago when searching for a thrift shop willing to trade recently baked muffins for shoes. He took her in and her muffins, fed her, and gave her a pair of shoes with the promise that if she was ever in trouble she go to him.

Bhadraksh was Indian born and raised. At twenty he tossed aside tradition and was ousted from his family. He traveled and saw much of the world before he discovered his love of Asian culture and settled down in Japan. His name meant 'one with beautiful eyes', and rightly so since he was born with the most beautiful, large blue eyes.

Kagome noticed the familiar pitying look whenever she came in looking for clothes and no money.

"Kagome, I wish you would let me help you in ways other than giving you clothes. If I had gotten married before I moved from India I would have hoped to have a daughter like you."

"You've helped me enough, Bhadraksh. I'm already indebted to you."

"Don't be silly, your smile is all the payment I need. Wait right there!" The middle-aged man turned around swiftly and all but jogged to the back room. Kagome smiled, sincerely happy that there was at least one man on Earth capable of seeing that she was not just some sex-object.

He came back a few minutes later with two large bags with tissue paper sticking out the top. With the kindest smile Kagome had ever seen he shoved the bags into her hands without a word.

"What's this?" Confusion washed over her as she reached for the tissue paper covering the bag's contents from view. His pudgy hand reached out and knocked hers aside.

"Call it an early Christmas present for you and your friends. You can't open it until you get home. Just promise you'll visit an old man on Christmas day, alright?"

"Of course I'll come visit you, but you don't celebrate Christmas!" Kagome replied with a laugh. She hugged her friend and walked to the door.

"Pssh! Minor detail! Now get going before it rains and you come down with pneumonia!" Bhadraksh pushed her out the door with a friendly shove.

Kagome watched as the door closed with a jingle and smiled. Her apartment wasn't too far from the consignment shop, and she became grateful for this as the two large bags were heavy.

As she entered her apartment she was pleased to see her three friends awake and waiting for her. The three of them jumped at her the minute she walked over the threshold.

"Kagome! Hey!"

"How'd it go?"

"How wealthy _is_ this guy!

"Do you think you hooked him?"

"How old is he?"

"How amazing was it?"

"Come on! Say something!"

Kagome blinked rapidly and tried to comprehend what just happened. She let the bags drop with a thud and took in a deep breath, held it, and stared at their expectant faces guiltily.

Placing her face in her hands and shaking her head back and forth she answered them in muffles. "Imfofsorrif! Weefdidmfdoofamyfthinf!" She let her eyes peak over the tips of her fingers to see their reaction.

"Um…ooookay. Uh….say wha?" Eri intelligently put it. When Kagome took in another breath and prepared to answer, once again in her hands, Eri pulled them away from her mouth.

"I'm so sorry! We didn't do anything!"

"WHAT?" Their reaction, simultaneous, was one of incredulous surprise.

"I'm so sorry! It turned out to be some practical joke this guy's friend pulled on him! He was expecting a masseuse, not a prostitute! And then he refused my advances and I didn't know what to do and then we started screaming at each other and I walked out the door!" Crying in her defense, Kagome waved her arms in front of her to try and block out the murderous faces of her friends.

"So then why were you gone all night?" Ayumi broke the homicidal silence with her soft voice sounding disappointed and almost depressed. It was most unlike her.

"Well… he refused my services and then said he'd insulted me by saying I was too skinny and let me order room service."

"So you ate food." Yuka rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "All night long?"

"Well, the arrogant jerk kept making fun of me so I ordered three quarters of the menu…. It took a long time to eat. Oh! And I used the Jacuzzi in the bathroom and then fell asleep on the couch watching a movie."

"Free food, a Jacuzzi, and movies? Kagome, that's against the rules!"

"I know that!"

"That's how Julita, that Filipino girl, was murdered! Kagome, it's dangerous!" Eri stepped forward and placed both hands on Kagome's shoulders and gave her a quick shake.

"Don't ever do that again, Kagome! You hear me? It's dangerous and I won't see one of my best friends hurt because of this! He could be some sick stalker or a homicidal maniac!"

"He didn't touch me. Not once. He gave me food; let me sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch, and he let me watch movies. How many men do you know that are that nice?"

"Kagome, you're still so naive that it's scary. He could have just been lulling you into a false sense of security before he made his move. What happened this morning when you got up?" Eri asked.

Kagome blushed a bit at the memory. She had woken soon after the sun began to rise, her biological clock so used to still being awake at that time had kept her from falling into a deep sleep. She walked out of her room and took a peek at the sleeping man on the couch. She had to stifle a giggle when she saw him spread out on the loveseat sized couch, one leg hanging off the arm rest about a foot, the other leg hanging off the couch and resting on the floor. He had been hugging a pillow against his chest and was snoring slightly. His hair (this is what made her really giggle) was everywhere. It stuck up in every direction and there were obvious knots. Kagome quickly wrote a little note and left it on the coffee table next to where he was sleeping before quickly, and quietly exiting the suite. "Nothing happened. I left before he woke up."

"Well, at least you did _something_ smart." The comment was laced with sarcasm.

"So I guess you're still stuck here with us, huh?" Ayumi asked before turning around and walking toward the grimy window.

"Yeah… I am…Is something wrong, Ayumi?"

Ayumi shrugged her shoulders and put on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I was just hoping you'd be free of this place, that's all."

The four of them began to chat excitedly about the packages Kagome brought back. The gifts turned out to be four winter coats. They weren't the best coats nor the prettiest but the four friends were grateful all just the same.

…………………………………….

"Miroku! I'm going to **murder** you!" Inuyasha yelled with a manic gleam in his eye. He lunged for Miroku who hid behind Sango.

"Don't bring me into this, pervert. You brought this on yourself." Sango said before quickly sidestepping so that Miroku was now in the open.

With a feral growl Inuyasha lunged and tackled his best friend to the ground, knocking over lamps and tables, and twisting and pulling limbs to cause pain, but not too much pain.

"You hired a prostitute, you perverted sonofabitch!" Now sitting on Miroku's back, Inuyasha twisted his friend's left arm across his upper back until Miroku yelled out "MERCY!" from the floor.

"No way, lech! This is worse, far worse, than on my twenty-first birthday when you left me with Betty Boob!"

Behind the wrestling boys (or rather Inuyasha beating the crap out of Miroku…) Sango mouthed "Betty Boob" silently and walked over to the mass of limbs and yells of pain with a tic above her eye.

"How was I supposed to know she was named that because of her implants?"

"More importantly, how do you know a Betty Boob in the first place, you hentai?" Sango lifted her foot, clad in her work boots, and let it drop on Miroku's free hand.

Miroku let out a yelp of pain before Inuyasha smacked him hard enough on the back of the head to render him unconscious.

"'Bout damn time he shut up. He squeals like a girl. Er… no offense, Sango." Inuyasha recovered quickly noticing the dangerous gleam in her eye.

"Get the pervert and let's go. You can sit in the back of my car and make sure he doesn't regain consciousness anytime soon." Sango said a little too casually before walking out the door of the hotel suite.

Inuyasha's brow rose in confusion. He bent down to pick up the unconscious bouzo when he noticed the piece of paper sitting on the coffee table. He paused a moment to stare at it before grabbing Miroku and dragging him out the door.

But something bothered him.

Dropping Miroku mercilessly on the floor so that his head landed with a loud thud, Inuyasha walked back into the room and grabbed the piece of paper off the coffee table and shoved it into his pocket.

He grabbed Miroku once more and made his way out of the hotel only to stop short when he saw Sango leaning against her car, the backseat door wide open, and a grin plastered to her face.

"Ever wonder what it's like to ride in the backseat of a police car, Inuyasha?" She asked, still grinning.

"Uh… Been there, done that, so I think I'll catch a cab home. Take care of the bouzo for me?" Inuyasha dropped Miroku again and walked away hastily.

"Don't be silly! There's_ plenty_ of room for two of you!" Sango grabbed his sleeve and forced him into the car, slamming the door behind him.

He swallowed audibly, not liking the caged-in feeling one bit. "Why couldn't I have sat in the passenger seat?"

"Police officers only, sorry!" In the rearview mirror he saw she wasn't sorry at all. She was smiling.

Damn women. This one would be the end of Miroku, and maybe him too if he wasn't careful.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and reached in his coat pocket and pulled out the piece of paper.

………….

Nice bedhead, stranger!

Thanks for the food!

…………

"What's that, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, eyeing the note through her mirror.

"Just a memory." He said before pocketing the note once more.

…………………………………….

The sun had set and night was upon them too quickly for their liking. Solemnly, the four girls left their apartment and walked down the frozen streets of Tokyo wearing thin sweatshirts.

After much discussion they opted to leave their new coats behind so that The Benefactor didn't take them away or more of their money thinking they were earning too much.

As they walked the scenery changed. Downtown Tokyo turned into the slums. There were no cars and they walked in filth along the curb. Lightposts blinked and made odd humming noises, an indication of poor electricity.

They stayed huddled together as close as possible, knowing well the dangers that lurked around corners, in shadows, and down alleys. They never made eye contact if they met another person on the streets. A grin from a stranger might very well be the last thing they saw.

The buildings on either side were decrepit, decayed, and falling apart. The building they stood before, staring at, was their building. And it was the most decayed and dangerous looking building of the bunch.

Holding hands and steeling their chins, they took confident steps forward and across the threshold of the whore house.

The minute they walked into the building Eri swallowed hard and Ayumi squeaked in surprise. Standing before them was The Benefactor.

He said nothing as he eyed them each in turn, admiring their individual physical qualities, but admiring them more for bringing him so much wealth.

As her three friends avoided eye contact, Kagome stared into his eyes and saw a challenge... and a summons.

When he turned around and walked away Kagome followed, leaving her three worried friends behind.

His gait was smooth and overly-confident, the walk of a man who knew his place in the world and took great pride in it.

Reaching his door he opened it, and then grinning maliciously he bowed slightly allowing Kagome to enter his office first.

When the door closed behind her quietly her palms began to sweat and nervousness started welling up in her chest, her mouth suddenly going dry.

What would her punishment be? What would he do with her now?

Sitting down in his chair gracefully and tilting his chin upward in a superior manner he said simply, "Well?"

"Well… what?" She challenged, never losing eye contact.

All fake displays of chivalry and kindness were lost in an instant and replaced with anger and superiority.

He stood and towered over her, casting a dark shadow across the room. "You know very well what. Tell me everything. Now." It was a deadly command.

"There's nothing to tell, Benefactor." Kagome's voice was weaker than she had hoped it would be. "Nothing happened." Kagome thought about lying. She seriously considered telling him that she was unable to impress the wealthy friend like he wanted her to. But Kagome also knew that the Benefactor was capable of smelling a lie as well as a hammerhead shark was capable of smelling blood a mile away.

"I see. I knew it was foolish to put much faith in you. You were doomed to fail from the beginning." His voice was mocking and almost cheerful.

"You never wanted me to succeed in the first place. That's why you gave me false directions." Kagome replied.

"Do not accuse me of anything, whore. Do not speak unless told to!" The Benefactor's voice grew in volume and intensity. He exuded a powerful aura that make Kagome want to cringe and hide.

But she didn't. She was far too stubborn to let someone like him control her. "I will speak when I so desire! You can not control me like some common bitch of a dog! I will not allow --"

The Benefactor interrupted her heated speech by springing around his desk and gripping her throat with a strong hand.

She gasped out the last of the air in her lungs from surprise. His cold hand gripped her throat and began crushing her windpipe. She could feel the pulsing in her neck slow as her vision darkened slightly, the pain beginning to numb.

Her hands clawed at his wrist and she tried kicking him but her strength was slowly leaving her, her eyes beginning to see dark spots from the asphyxiation.

Losing all strength she let her arms fall limply to her side and allowed her eyelids to close.

She felt his hot breath on her ear then as he whispered, "You are worth far too much to me alive, whore, to let you simply die quickly from being strangled. But I will kill you for defying me. I will kill you… slowly."

The iron-grip on her throat was released and she fell to the ground in a heap. The air she gasped in burned her lungs but she found the pain a welcome relief to the numbness of death she felt a few seconds prior.

With a rough and painful grip The Benefactor threw her out his door and into the hallway and onto the feet of her three friends.

She lay there as her friends worried over her. All she could see, even when her eyes closed, was the dark silhouette of The Benefactor looking at her with mixed contempt and lust with light pouring out from his office all around him.

She watched as he slowly closed the door, staring her the entire time. When the door cut off all light from within the office Kagome succumbed to the darkness and fell unconscious into Eri's arms.

…………………………………….

_The Present_

_Two weeks after the meeting with Inuyasha_

Kagome let the tears come freely. She knew she was guaranteed privacy since one of the ways The Benefactor was slowly hurting her was by cutting back the number of Johns drastically to the point where she saw one maybe once or twice a week. He knew that Kagome had to pay off the debt left behind by her family and relied on Johns to supply her with the money she needed to do so.

It was a cruel love-hate relationship. She needed money to survive and pay off her debt and therefore depended on the Johns. But she also hated the fact she was forced to sleep with every man she encountered.

Since the meeting with The Benefactor Kagome had suffered. The few Johns she received was sadistic and twisted and paid little.

Every morning when she gave The Benefactor his money he would hurt her physically and with words.

He also forced himself on Ayumi at least twice a week and hurt Yuka by having someone push her down the stairs.

By hurting the ones she loved he was slowly killing her inside. He knew her weaknesses. He knew she trusted too easily. He knew she loved with all her heart. And he knew it was the one way to bring her down.

When the first rays of light crept over the horizon Kagome wiped the tears from her face and got off of the bed-bug infested mattress and pulled on her robe.

She went about her morning routine: standing in line to The Benefactor's office, giving him his money and either being beaten by him or touched in places that made her gag; gathering what little non-whorish clothing she had and making her way out the door.

She didn't wait for her friends this morning. She couldn't face them knowing that she was the cause of all their pain.

Walking in silence back to her apartment she hugged her arms. She exhaled a great puff of white, moist air and breathed in. She coughed.

She took another gulp of air to confirm her suspicions and coughed again, violently.

Smoke. Thick, choking black smoke. The same smoke she breathed in years ago when her own home was on fire!

Kagome's eyes widened and she took off in the direction of the smoke. Down one street, a right turn, and down another street… they melded together in a blur. Her eyes watered as the smoke became more intense. Her breathing came out in giant gasping breaths, burning pins and needles stabbed at her calves, begging her to stop and breathe.

She rounded one last corner and stopped, horrified. Her eyes wide, she could do nothing but stare and gape at the smolder mass of angry flames before her.

"BHADARKSH!" she screamed out and ran towards the burning building.

Not again! Her mind screamed and raced, old memories surfacing. Live flames licking the shrine roof, the sounds of the second floor collapsing, shouts from behind her, sirens all around, the thought of her family screaming in agony as they were burned alive.

"BHADRAKSH!" She screamed again, almost at the front door. She could see the angry flames just inside the front door. She had to get inside! She had to help him!

Something moved quickly in her periphery and a solid, hard figure suddenly crashed into her sending both of them flying into the pavement.

Kagome screamed and kicked the person clad in dirty orange turnout gear, a fireman. But his hold was strong and he held onto her tightly yelling at her to shut up and sit still, it was for her own safety. She would hear none of it.

…………………………………….

Inuyasha pulled on the rest of his suit while trying to hold onto the vehicle as it raced down the streets, the siren blaring loudly. He swore colorfully over the siren to a fellow volunteer to hand him his hood.

The truck swerved around a corner so suddenly that Inuyasha almost lost his grip on the metal hand bar at the rear of the truck. The smell of smoke intensified as he threw on his hood and swore at the sight before him.

An older building was engulfed in flames from the first to third floors. The flames spewed out of the windows and licked up the sides of the building leaving dark burns.

The truck came to a sudden stop and they scrambled out to start connecting hoses.

Inuyasha was barking orders at a newbie volunteer when he heard a female scream.

He turned around and saw a young woman sprinting to the building in a short skirt and dirty sweatshirt.

His eyes widened as he realized she was planning on running into the building.

Thinking quickly he dropped the hose he was trying to connect to the fire hydrant and dashed over.

She was getting closer; he could see the frantic look on her dirtied face and ran faster.

Ten feet before the door he lunged at the crazy woman, grabbing her around her abdomen and dragging her to the concrete below.

She struggled, yelling incoherent and crazy things.

"DAMNIT WOMAN! SHUT UP!" He yelled back.

Still she continued to struggle so he squeezed a little harder to prevent movement.

"FUCK, WENCH! I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! STOP STRUGGLING!"

She turned her head towards him finally to start screaming again and his eyes widened as realization hit.

It was her.

-------------------------------------------------

Okay, evil cliff-hanger, I know. Let me know how evil of a cliffhanger it was by reviewing! And maybe, just maybe I'll get the next chapter up soon.

AN: I just want to clear up a little bit of confusion. No one has mentioned this, but I'm sure _someone_ has caught on.

In chapter 3, _Of Cops and Curses_, Sango recites Miroku the Miranda Rights. This is something, to my knowledge, that only law enforcement officials in the U.S.A. are required to do. The setting of this story is Tokyo, Japan, but I included the Miranda rights for an added effect.

The large italicized text is in the antagonist's first person point-of-view. You already know who this character is, even if I haven't come right out and said, The bad guy's name is !

I've received PMs from people asking about where I get my inspiration for my stories. It's very simple. The multi-chapter stories I write all concern some sort of domestic problem, like physical (or sexual or emotional) abuse, or prostitution. I write about these issues because they are so often overlooked or ignored that people think they aren't that huge of a deal. But they are. That's my purpose for writing chapter stories, to get people to realize the severity of these issues. For instance, we all know about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, right? Well, did you know that India has the highest percentage of AIDS patients? Or that 14,000 people are infected with HIV every day and a large percentage of that are people under 29?


End file.
